Why are you crying? There’s no crying in Battlefield…

Back in my day….(shaky old man voice). No, really I remember a time I used to log into my favorite FPS server, and have hours of friendly competition with mature players just having a good time. Calls of ‘Nice Shot’, ‘Damn you got me, I’ll have you next time’, and all manner of friendly banter floating in the text box at the top of my screen. Now we jump ahead a few years, and I’m playing Battlefield 3, and I’m just amazed at how many people are complaining, insulting, or just generally being a bunch of crybabies.

This post deals with one of the major issues I’m seeing here. the blatant lack of sportsmanlike conduct from today’s gamers. Once upon a time, one would be running along as some epic soldier in an equally epic, pixelated battle to save the day, when BAM, dead. One didn’t look at the scoreboard, or gripe about getting shot, one would throw a ‘nice shot’ or ‘ns’ into the chat window, respawn, and try to find a different way to get to the guy that just killed you. Now the standard protocol, after being shot dead, is to look at the scoreboard, see that the shooter has a better score than you and throw up some insult, curse, or scream ‘HACKER!’ Then respawn, run right up the same way you went the first time, and scream and cry louder when you get shot again.

Let me pause here, cause I know there are some non-gamers reading this. A hacker, in game terms, is someone who has installed software on their machine that takes their game and adds features that give them an unfair advantage. Basically they are the kids that have no skill, can’t actually play the game well, so they have to cheat. Common haks include aimbot, a hak that aims your weapon for you, and wallhak, a feature that shows people anywhere on the map, even if they are behind walls, or inside buildings. It’s also good to know that there are far fewer hackers out there than people believe. It’s really online gaming’s version of shouting racism, or crying wolf.

So, what once was friendly competition seems to be a few people having fun and being respectful, and a large group of people just being tools. This isn’t every server, thank goodness, but with every new game it takes time to find the servers that don’t tolerate that sort of behavior, or discourage it enough that the whiners either go away or shut their ‘mouths’. For those out there that feel the need to get angry, remember, it’s just a game. Have fun, and try not to bring down the fun of others. Consider that you are playing in an arena with other gamers like you. This isn’t some imaginary computer mind you are insulting, it’s another person. And above all, learn from your failure. If somebody keeps shooting you in the same spot, quit going that way! Battlefield 3, especially, is a tactical style game. If you do not use cover, sensible movement tactics, cover fire, and teamwork, you will always be mediocre at best.

There’s a saying I used to see, and use myself, in Battlefield 2. ‘There’s no crying in Battlefield’. Basically, this game is intended to be a multi-layered combat shooter that simulates the chaos of a real battlefield as best they can on a computer. Combat is not fair. There is no remorse for the guy who didn’t hide from the enemy tank. No one is going to hold your hand and train you how to lay down suppressive fire. Oh, and if you are not working with your team/squad, then you have no business complaining if your team is losing. Stop crying! While you type about how sore your backside is, you are wasting time you could be using to help your team win. Stop using the same methods. If running down the middle of the street gets you shot, STOP IT! I don’t know how many times I have sniped the same guy, running up the same lane, to try and get to me, and then see him complain about it. Stop crying, there’s no crying in Battlefield.

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